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Rationale and Objectives First, to evaluate and compare three different diffusion sequences (i.e., standard DWI, IVIM, and DKI) for nodal staging. Second, to combine the DWI, and anatomic information to assess metastatic lymph node (LN). Materials and Methods We retrospectively identified 136 patients of rectal adenocarcinoma who met the inclusion criteria. Three diffusion sequences (i.e., standard DWI, IVIM, and DKI) were performed, and quantitative parameters were evaluated. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to assess the associations between the anatomic and DWI information and LN pathology. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify independent risk factors. A nomogram model was established, and the model performance was evaluated by the concordance index (c-index) and calibration curve. Results There was a statistical difference in variables (LN long diameter, LN short diameter, LN boundary, LN signal, peri-LN signal intensity, ADC-1000, ADC-1400, ADC-2000, Kapp and D) between metastatic and non-metastatic LN for training and validation cohorts (p Conclusion The IVIM and DKI model's diagnostic efficiency was not significantly improved compared to conventional DWI. The diagnostic accuracy of metastatic LN can be enhanced using the nomogram model, leading to a rational therapeutic choice.

Ultrasonic testing procedures are among the most extensively used techniques in non-destructive testing and non-destructive evaluation systems. Meanwhile, phased array inspection or phased-array ultrasonic testing techniques as a well-known type of ultrasonic testing in advanced non-destructive testing systems are utilized in numerous applications, including oil and gas, medical imaging applications, railway, automotive, marine, and aviation industries. Phased-array ultrasonic testing-based methods can also be used in a variety of weld inspections, bond testing, thickness profiling, flaw detections, corrosion inspections, and in-service crack detection. The rapidity, safety, easiness, affordable price, and accurate visualization of phased array in measuring the defect characteristics such as size, shape, depth, and orientation allow its wide usage and even as a substitute for other inspection methods like radiographic methods. In phased array methods, more than one sound wave is employed to enhance the reliability and flexibility of inspection through the operation of several transducer assemblies, involving 16 to 256 small individual elements. Titanium having many desirable properties like high strength to weight ratio found many industrial applications, which highly necessitates its persistent inspection. For this aim, the present study focuses on the application of the phased-array ultrasonic testing technique for inspecting Ti components specifically in additive manufacturing, welding inspections, and defect detection of complex geometries and composites. Moreover, modern applications and improved computation methods are discussed. The development of phased-array ultrasonic testing inspection systems, particularly high throughput and efficient in situ and mobile equipment, and new computation methods will open new horizons toward the highly sophisticated inspection procedures.

Typhoons play an important role in beach evolution. The storm surge and large waves caused by typhoons can cause significant changes in beach morphology in a short period of time. The mechanism of beach evolution and profile changes during typhoons is significantly different from that under non-typhoon dynamic conditions. The XBeach numerical model provides an effective tool for predicting the response of sandy coasts to typhoons. This study is based on field-collected long-term beach profile elevations and grain size data, which were used to establish a two-dimensional XBeach model for simulating the morphological evolution of Cudao Island Beach under Typhoon Lekima. The GSA (Generalized Sensitivity Analysis) method was used to determine the sensitivity order of several important parameters in this modeling. Four different moments of wave height variation were selected during the typhoon process to analyze and study beach evolution. The results show that Chudao South Beach is always in a state of erosion during the typhoon period. The wave water increase is apparent in the nearshore wave-breaking area. The beach shoulder in the northeastern part of the beach is short, and the profile, with a short length, responds quickly to the typhoon. The eroded sediment is mainly deposited in the lower part of the intertidal zone or even transported outside of the wave-breaking zone, and a small part is transported to the shore and deposited in the high-tide zone. The continuous sediment transport along the coast of Chudao Beach is an important factor that influenced the evolution of each profile during Typhoon Lekima.

To develop novel wave energy conversion devices (WECDs) with excellent performance, the relative wave height and pressure in the chambers of square and curved oscillating water column (OWC) WECDs were compared through physical model tests, and the effects of regular incident wave factors, the opening length, the opening width, and the chamber volume on the aerodynamic performance and wave energy capture efficiency (WECE) of the WECDs were investigated. The results indicated good chamber performance for both the square and curved OWC WECDs. As the incident wave height increased, the wave surface elevation, WECE, and pressure in the chamber all increased, while the relative wave height in the chamber decreased. When the opening length, width, and area of the WECD increased, both the relative wave height and chamber pressure increased. The relative wave height in the chamber increased with decreasing chamber volume; however, the chamber pressure and intrachamber WECE decreased with increasing chamber volume. It is recommended that, in actual engineering applications, the overall efficiency of the device be improved by increasing the opening length, width, area and volume of the air chamber.

To compare the performance of CT and MRI radiomics for predicting the malignant potential of intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (IPMNs) of the pancreas, and to investigate their value compared to the revised 2017 international consensus Fukuoka guidelines.Sixty patients with surgically confirmed IPMNs (37 malignant and 23 benign) were included. Radiomics features were extracted from arterial and venous phase images of CT and T2-weighted images of MRI, respectively. Intraclass correlation coefficients for the radiomics features were calculated to assess the interobserver reproducibility. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator algorithm was used for feature selection. Radiomics models were constructed based on selected features with logistic regression (LR) and support vector machine (SVM). A clinical and imaging model was constructed based on independent predictors of the revised 2017 Fukuoka guidelines determined in multivariate logistic regression with forward elimination.The reproducibility of MRI radiomics features was higher than that of CT radiomics features, regardless of arterial or venous phase features (all p0.001). MRI radiomics models achieved improved AUCs (0.879 with LR and 0.940 with SVM, respectively), than that of CT radiomics models (0.811 with LR and 0.864 with SVM, respectively). All radiomics models provided better predictive performance than the clinical and imaging model (AUC = 0.764).The MRI radiomics models with higher reproducibility radiomics features performed better than CT radiomics models for predicting the malignant potential of IPMNs. The performance of radiomics models was superior to the clinical and imaging model based on Fukuoka guidelines.

The response of beaches to typhoons has always been a hot topic at home and abroad. The study of beach changes during typhoons is helpful to deepen the understanding of beach evolution and is important for the coastal ecological environment. Based on the observation results of ten profiles and the sediment samples in Chudao before and after the typhoon Lekima, this article explored the response characteristics of the beach to the typhoon. The results showed that the study area was located on the right side of the typhoon’s forward path, and the double superposition of onshore waves and storm surge resulted in erosion along the beach. In order to alleviate the energy brought by storm waves, the beach was transformed into a more dissipated state. The mean particle size of the beach sediments was coarse on the whole, with poor sorting ability, and that in the wash zone was particularly obvious. The results showed that different profiles responded to Lekima in different ways: while the profiles of N01–N05 in the southwest changed little, those of N06–N10 in the northeast changed from the type of beach shoulder to the type of sandbank as a result of morphological differences in different profiles.

Gradient materials can achieve both external strengthening and internal toughening, which has great potential to break the strong plastic tradeoff. Titanium carbide (TiC) particle is conducive to form a wearable surface in biomedical Titanium (Ti) alloy. In this work, gradient TiC/Ti6Al4V composites were successfully prepared by friction stir processing (FSP). Microstructure, texture and mechanical properties of the material were systematically characterized. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that the equiaxed grains near the machined surface were transformed into elongated grains inside. The results of energy spectrum analysis (EDS) showed that there was element aggregation near TiC particles. X-ray diffraction (XRD) indicated martensitic transformation in the stir zone and in the transition zone. The results of nano indentation showed that the hardness of stir zone was higher. In order to promote recrystallization and improve the hardness of the transition zone, high temperature rapid heat treatment was carried out after FSP. When the sample was heated at 700°C and cooled in the furnace, the hardness increased to the maximum. In the process of rapid heating, the dissolution of elements near TiC particles also led to the increase of hardness. This study provides a new idea for surface modification of gradient titanium alloy by using FSP method to improve its mechanical properties.

The evolution of renewable energy technologies may surmount fossil fuel disadvantages. Wave energy is considered one of the best alternatives to fossil energy due to its advantages. The 40-year (1979–2018) spatio-temporal distribution of wave energy is presented using European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Reanalysis v5 (ERA5) datasets. In addition, the common formula used for wave energy evaluation is derived from the linear wave theory in deep water, which is not applicable in shallow water. Therefore, a new equation that is suitable for both shallow and deep water is derived, which improves the accuracy of the wave energy evaluation for various water depths. The main aim is to investigate the spatio-temporal wave energy for offshore China from 1979 to 2018 and combine the new standard of classification to recommend the optimal area. The nearshore zone from Zhejiang province to Guandong province is considered the ideal zone, and the average annual wave energy density in this area is above 10 kW/m.

The switch from using only trivalent oral polio vaccine (tOPV) to sequential schedules combining inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) and bivalent oral polio vaccine (bOPV) for polio vaccination will cause changes to mucosal immunity against polio in infants, which plays an important role in preventing the poliovirus spread. Here, we analyzed mucosal immunity against poliovirus in the intestine during different sequential vaccination schedules. We conducted clinical trials in Guangxi Province, China on 1,200 2-month-old infants who were randomly assigned to one of three vaccination schedule groups: IPV-bOPV-bOPV, IPV-IPV-tOPV, and IPV-IPV-bOPV, with vaccine doses administered at 8, 12, and 16 weeks of age. Stool samples were collected from 10% of participants in each group before administration of the second vaccine doses and at 1, 2, and 4 weeks after the administrations of the second and third vaccine doses. Immunoglobulin A (IgA) in the stool samples was measured to analyze the mucosal immune response in the intestine. Because of the absence of poliovirus type 2 in bOPV, the vaccination schedule of IPV-IPV-bOPV did not sufficiently raise intestinal mucosal immunity against poliovirus type 2, although some cross-immunity was seen. The level of intestinal mucosal immunity was related to shedding status; shedders could produce intestinal mucosa IgA more quickly. The intestinal mucosal immunity level was not related to serum neutralizing antibody level. In the combined sequential vaccination schedule of IPV and bOPV, the risk of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) may be increased owing to insufficient intestinal mucosal immunity against poliovirus type 2.

Wave parameters, such as wave height and wave period, are important for human activities, such as navigation, ocean engineering and sediment transport, etc. In this study, wave data from six buoys around Chinese waters, are used to assess the quality of wave height and wave period in the ERA5 reanalysis of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. Annual hourly data with temporal resolution are used. The difference between the significant wave height (SWH) of ERA 5 and that of the buoy varies from −0.35 m to 0.30 m for the three shallow locations; for the three deep locations, the variation ranges from −0.09 m to 0.09 m. The ERA5 SWH data show positive biases, indicating an overall overestimation for all locations, except for E2 and S1 where underestimation is observed. During the tropical cyclone period, a large (about 32%) underestimation of the maximum SWH in the ERA5 data is observed. Hence, the ERA5 SWH data cannot be used for design applications without site-specific validation. The difference between the annual wave period from ERA5 and the mean wave period from the buoys varies from −1.31s to 0.4s. Inter-comparisons suggest that the ERA5 dataset is consistent with the annual mean SWH. However, for the average period, the performance is not good, and half of the correlation coefficients in the four points are less 50%. Overall, the deep water area simulation effect is better than that in the shallow water.

Salinity in estuaries has an important influence on sediment deposition, delta formation, and fishery economy. The change of runoff in Yellow River (YR), which is the largest river along the Bohai Sea, has an important effect on the salinity of the sea, particularly in Laizhou Bay. In this study, measured runoff data in Lijin hydrological station from 1950 to 2018 are adopted to examine the change of YR runoff into the sea. The study concludes that the runoff of YR is distributed unevenly throughout the year and the amount of runoff mainly concentrates during the flood season. Results show a decreasing trend at a significant level of α=0.95, with a range of −6.17 × 109 m3 yr−1. Three groups of runoff are set by using the Finite-Volume Coastal Ocean Model numerical model to analyze the change of salinity in Laizhou Bay. These modeled effects were compared with water level observations made by Bayuquan, Tanggu, and Penglai gauge stations and salinity surveys conducted by Longkou gauge station. Model results and observations of salinity distributions and coastal water level showed good agreement. We can conclude that the distribution of salinity in Laizhou Bay is high in the east and low in the west. Furthermore, it responded quickly to the change of the runoff from YR. Under conditions of high river discharge, the low-salinity zone increased in horizontal direction and reached the bottom in vertical direction.

A highly sensitive fluorescent sensor ZnDN was designed, synthesized and used for tracking intracellular zinc ions in various living cells and direct imaging of prostatic tissue in mice. ZnDN was prepared from the heterocyclic-fused naphthalimide fluorophore, and the zinc receptor, N,N-bis(2-pyridylmethyl)ethylenediamine (BPEN). Upon addition of Zn2+ to the solutions of ZnDN, a remarkable fluorescence enhancement was observed, which could be attributed to the photo-induced electron transfer (PET) mechanism. Since ZnDN exhibited high sensitivity toward Zn2+ in phosphate buffer solution, with a limit of detection of 4.0 × 10−9 mol/L, it was further applied for the imaging of exogenous and endogenous Zn2+ in different living cells. Living cells imaging experiments suggested that ZnDN could image the changes of intracellular free zinc ions, and could be used for two-photon imaging. Moreover, flow cytometry suggested that ZnDN could distinguish cancerous prostate cells from normal cells. Animal experiments indicated that ZnDN had the potential in imaging prostate tissue in vivo.

In recent years, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative has gradually implemented a global shift in polio immunization programs. Few studies cover polio immunization program impacts on the efficacy of other vaccines. This study investigated whether polio immunization programs affected hepatitis A (HepA) and hepatitis B (HepB) vaccination efficacy. Serum samples were collected from 968 infants before the first dose of polio vaccine, 28 days after completing primary polio immunization, and at 24 months old. Infants were classified into six polio immunization program groups: 1sIPV+2bOPV, 2sIPV+1bOPV, 2sIPV+1tOPV, 1cIPV+2bOPV, 2cIPV+1bOPV, and 2cIPV+1tOPV (sIPV: Sabin inactivated poliovirus vaccine; cIPV: Salk inactivated poliovirus vaccine; b, bivalent; t, trivalent; OPV, oral polio vaccine). No significant differences existed in antibody titers against HepA virus (anti-HAV) among the polio immunization program groups at any of the three time points (pre-first dose [

Tidal phenomenon is a significant dynamical phenomenon in the ocean, and the accurate prediction of tide is an important task for various maritime activities. This paper proposes analysis method considering tidal periodicity and apply it to the actual tide prediction. The results prove that this method can solve the delay problem in tide prediction, improve the accuracy of prediction. Compared with the tidal harmonic analysis method, the prediction result of this method is more accurate and requires less data for short-term tidal forecast. Although this study can only provide an accurate forecast for 3 days, it is enough to deal with risks. How to improve the accuracy of long-term prediction is one of the future research directions.

Convolutional neural networks (CNN) are widely used deep learning frameworks and are applied in the field of face recognition, achieving outstanding results. The Macropixel comparison approach is a shallow mathematical approach that recognizes faces by comparing the original pixel blocks of face images. In this article, the authors are inspired by ideas of the currently popular deep neural network framework and introduce two features into the mathematical approach: deep overlap and weighted filter. The aim is to explore if the idea of deep learning could benefit mathematical recognition method, which might extend the scope of face recognition research. Results from the experiments show that the new proposed approach achieves markedly better recognition rates than the original macropixel methods.

One hallmark of solid tumors, regardless of its type or stage, is the existence of an unsual acidic microenvironment, which has been considered a specific and ideal target for cancer imaging. Therefore, we developed a pH-activatable nanoprobe GNPs-CKL-FA for near-infrared fluorescence (NIR) and computed tomography (CT) imaging of tumors. This nanoprobe consists of a near-infrared fluorophore (Cy5.5), a pH-sensitive ketal linker, and gold nanoparticles (GNPs) decorated with folates that could bind to tumor cells' surface receptors to promote cellular internalization. This ability of folate to mediate tumor targeting and accelerate internalization has been confirmed by in vitro experiments with HeLa cells. The fluorescence of the nanoprobes successfully activated by low intracellular pH, especially in more acidic organelles. Furthermore, fluorescence signals increased to a greater extent when the pH in tumors was lowered by injection of acetate buffer and isoproterenol. The CT contrast of GNPs-CKL-FA was obtained after administering intravenously to HeLa subcutaneous tumor-bearing mice. These results suggest that GNPs-CKL-FA has the potential to be a pH-activatable fluorescent nanoprobe combined with CT contrast agent for tumor targeted imaging.

Surface wind is significant for ocean state climate, ocean mixing, and viability of wind energy techniques. However, surface wind simulated from the regional climate model generally features substantial bias from observation. For the first time, this study compares the performance of five bias correction techniques, (1) linear scaling, (2) variance scaling, (3) quantile mapping based on empirical distribution, (4) quantile mapping based on Weibull distribution, and (5) cumulative distribution functions transformation, in reducing the statistical bias of a regional climate model wind output, which was downscaled from a global climate model CNRM-CM5 during 1991-2000. The surface wind of JRA55 reanalysis data is used as reference. Results show that all bias correction methods are consistent in reducing the climatological mean bias in spatial patterns and intensities. The linear scaling method always performs the worst among all methods in correcting higher-order statistical biases such as skewness, kurtosis, and wind power density. The other four bias correction methods are generally similar in reducing the statistical biases of different measures based on spatial distribution maps. However, when it comes to spatial averaged mean of statistical measures over CORDEX-East Asia in January and July, the quantile mapping based on Weibull distribution generally shows the best skills among all methods in bias reduction. Plain Language Summary In the current stage, global climate model or regional climate model simulations generally feature substantial bias relative to observations, leading to an inaccurate assessment of climate change or inaccurate inputs for impact models. For the first time, we have compared five bias correction methods using various statistical measures to find out the most robust method for correcting statistical properties of simulated winds from regional climate model. Results show that the linear scaling method always performs the worst among all methods in correcting higher-order statistical biases of simulated winds. On average, the quantile mapping based on Weibull distribution shows the best skills among all methods in bias reduction in January and July. This study is of importance for climate change assessment of wind as well as deriving accurate wind forcing for driving ocean model.

Due to the growing aging population of the world, and as a result of the increasing need for dental implants and prostheses, the use of titanium and its alloys as implant materials has spread rapidly. Although titanium and its alloys are considered the best metallic materials for biomedical applications, the need for innovative technologies is necessary due to the sensitivity of medical applications and to eliminate any potentially harmful reactions, enhancing the implant-to-bone integration and preventing infection. In this regard, the implant’s surface as the substrate for any reaction is of crucial importance, and it is accurately addressed in this review paper. For constructing this review paper, an internet search was performed on the web of science with these keywords: surface modification techniques, titanium implant, biomedical applications, surface functionalization, etc. Numerous recent papers about titanium and its alloys were selected and reviewed, except for the section on forthcoming modern implants, in which extended research was performed. This review paper aimed to briefly introduce the necessary surface characteristics for biomedical applications and the numerous surface treatment techniques. Specific emphasis was given to micro/nano-structured topographies, biocompatibility, osteogenesis, and bactericidal effects. Additionally, gradient, multi-scale, and hierarchical surfaces with multifunctional properties were discussed. Finally, special attention was paid to modern implants and forthcoming surface modification strategies such as four-dimensional printing, metamaterials, and metasurfaces. This review paper, including traditional and novel surface modification strategies, will pave the way toward designing the next generation of more efficient implants.

Functional gradient materials (FGMs), as a modern group of materials, can provide multiple functions and are able to well mimic the hierarchical and gradient structure of natural systems. Because biomedical implants usually substitute the bone tissues and bone is an organic, natural FGM material, it seems quite reasonable to use the FGM concept in these applications. These FGMs have numerous advantages, including the ability to tailor the desired mechanical and biological response by producing various gradations, such as composition, porosity, and size; mitigating some limitations, such as stress-shielding effects; improving osseointegration; and enhancing electrochemical behavior and wear resistance. Although these are beneficial aspects, there is still a notable lack of comprehensive guidelines and standards. This paper aims to comprehensively review the current scenery of FGM metallic materials in the biomedical field, specifically its dental and orthopedic applications. It also introduces various processing methods, especially additive manufacturing methods that have a substantial impact on FGM production, mentioning its prospects and how FGMs can change the direction of both industry and biomedicine. Any improvement in FGM knowledge and technology can lead to big steps toward its industrialization and most notably for much better implant designs with more biocompatibility and similarity to natural tissues that enhance the quality of life for human beings.

To investigate the value of radiomic features at contrast-enhanced CT integrated with clinic-pathologic features and body composition measures for predicting survival after upfront surgery in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).Two hundred and ninety-nine patients with PDAC who underwent surgical resection were included and allocated to training set (210 patients) and validation set (89 patients). The radiomics signature for predicting survival was constructed by using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator Cox regression. Multivariable Cox regression analysis was used to construct a radiomics model based on radiomics signature, clinic-pathologic features and body composition measures. A clinical model without radiomics signature was also developed. Model performance was analyzed by Harrell's concordance index (C-index) and time-independent receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. The Kaplan-Meier (KM) method was used for survival analysis.Five independent variables were selected for the radiomics model: radiomics signature, carbohydrate antigen 19-9, skeletal muscle index, histologic grade and postoperative chemotherapy. The radiomics-based model provided better predictive performance (C-index = 0.73; all p 0.05) than the clinical model without radiomics signature and American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) TNM staging system. Patients were stratified as high-risk and low-risk group by the radiomics model. The KM analysis showed a significant difference between two groups (p 0.05).The radiovdmics-based model integrating with clinic-pathologic features and body composition measures could predict survival after surgical resection in PDAC patients.

Pancreatic cancer severely affects people's wellbeing and has been one of the most malignant digestive diseases with regard to its tough diagnosis and treatment. Recently many papers have focused on the utility of siRNA as potential therapeutics to cure tumors. Herein, we developed a novel siRNA nanocarrier based on biomimetic Au@BSA nanoflowers that might be applied as a potential theranostic nanoplatform. As gold has a much larger atomic number and X-ray absorption coefficient in comparison with traditional iodine agents, it is suitable to utilize the nanoprobe for computed tomography (CT) as well as optical multimodal imaging when combined with fluorescence markers. Firstly, Au@BSA nanoflowers were obtained utilizing bovine serum albumin (BSA) as a biotemplate. Then the synthesized Au@BSA nanocomposites were conjugated with siRNA-FAM to form Au@BSA–siRNA-FAM through electrostatic layer-by-layer assembling interactions. The constructed delivery system showed good biocompatibility due to the BSA coating. Furthermore, the in vitro experiments demonstrated that the delivered siRNA could efficiently suppress the growth of BXPC-3 cells through gene silencing. In general, the biomimetic Au@BSA nanocarrier may provide a new method for cancer therapy.

Serum albumins perform various biological functions in bioorganisms, and abnormal levels of serum albumin are predictors of many diseases; contrary to the various approaches developed for the detection of serum albumins in blood and urine samples, limited tools are available for tracing and exploring endogenous serum albumins in living bioorganisms. Specifically, fluorescent probes have not been used for the exploration of endogenous serum albumins in zebrafish. Herein, we presented a versatile fluorescent probe (C7H) that highly specifically interacted with the site I of serum albumins. We succeeded in developing C7H as a visualized tool for tracing endogenous serum albumins in living larval zebrafish. Furthermore, C7H could be used as a fluorescent probe for the real-time monitoring of the wound area in larval zebrafish. Our results suggest that the larval zebrafish has a strong self-repair capacity for wound areas. Thus, C7H could be an efficient probe for studying wound healing in live zebrafish. Moreover, C7H can significantly expand the further understanding of wound healing in zebrafish, which may also promote the research on wound healing in human beings.

In this study, we investigate the skills of the regional climate model Consortium for Small-Scale Modeling in Climate Mode (CCLM) in reproducing historical climatic features and their added value to the driving global climate models (GCMs) of the Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment—East Asia (CORDEX-EA) domain. An ensemble of climate simulations, with a resolution of 0.44°, was conducted by downscaling four GCMs: CNRM-CM5, EC-EARTH, HadGEM2, and MPI-ESM-LR. The CCLM outputs were compared with different observations and reanalysis datasets. Results showed strong seasonal variability of CCLM’s ability in reproducing climatological means, variability, and extremes. The bias of the simulated summer temperatures is generally smaller than that of the winter temperatures; in addition, areas where CCLM adds value to the driving GCMs in simulating temperature are larger in the winter than in the summer. CCLM outperforms GCMs in terms of generating climatological precipitation means and daily precipitation distributions for most regions in the winter, but this is not always the case for the summer. It was found that CCLM biases are partly inherited from GCMs and are significantly shaped by structural biases of CCLM. Furthermore, downscaled simulations show added value in capturing features of consecutive wet days for the tropics and of consecutive dry days for areas to the north of 30°N. We found considerable uncertainty from reanalysis and observation datasets in temperatures and precipitation climatological means for some regions that rival bias values of GCMs and CCLM simulations. We recommend carefully selecting reference datasets when evaluating modeled climate means.

Shi, H.Y.; You, Z.J.; Yin, B.S., and Bai, Y.C., 2018. Critical Depths Derived for Three Distinct Modes of Coastal Sediment Transport. In: Shim, J.-S.; Chun, I., and Lim, H.S. (eds.), Proceedings from the International Coastal Symposium (ICS) 2018 (Busan, Republic of Korea). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 85, pp. 271–275. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.A unified criterion is developed for three distinct modes of coastal sediment transport: incipient movement of sediment (only bedload), initiation of bedripple formation (bedload and suspended load), and inception of bed ripple disappearance or sheet flow (mainly bed load) based on three unique laboratory datasets collected on a horizontal bed of sediment under regular waves. The onset velocity criterion on the three distinct sediment transport modesis derived to be of the same simple form, U0 = 2πC (1 − T0/T), where U0 is the maximum on set wave orbital velocity close to the bed, T is the wave period, and C and T0 are the coefficients dependent of sediment property only. The newly developed criterion is then extended to calculate critical depths for the distinct modes of sediment transport under coastal waves by replacing regular wave height H and period T with statistical wave height Hrms and period Trms according to the recently developed “zero-crossing and energy balance” wave analysis method and linear wave theory. The critical depth calculated from this unified criterion is shown to be a function of sediment grain size and density, and wave height and period, but more sensitive to wave period. The critical depth estimated for the initiation of bed sediment ripple formation is found to be much larger than the depth of closure derived for beach-fill designs.

For the urgent need for fermentation control and product quality improvement of Pu-erh tea, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and odor activity value (OAV) were used to comprehensively investigate the flavor-active compounds during artificial fermentation of Pu-erh tea. A flavor wheel was constructed to expound the sensory attributes evolution during fermentation. With an increased total volatiles content, 43 were significantly up-regulated and 30 were down-regulated among 131 detected volatiles. Key active compounds of three aroma types, namely fresh fragrance, fruit-fungus fragrance and stale-Qu fragrance, were analyzed based on OAV. β-damascenone was firstly found contributing most to the aroma of Pu-erh tea, followed by 1,2,3-methoxybenzene and (E,E)-2,4-nonadienal. γ-terpinene, linalool, 1,2,4-trimethoxybenzene, 1,2,3-trimethoxybenzene, and 4-ethylveratrol were identified as the potential markers responsible for aroma differences among three fermentation stages. Finally the metabolic evolution of key flavor-active compounds were systematically summarized. This study provides significant guidance in fermentation control and new product development of Pu-erh tea.

In this paper, we apply an unstructured grid coastal ocean model to simulate variations in the sea level and currents forced by two typhoons in the northwestern South China Sea (SCS). The model simulations show distinct differences for the two cases in which the typhoon paths were north and south of the Qiongzhou (QZ) Strait. In both cases, coastal trapped waves (CTWs) are stimulated but their propagation behaviors differ. Model sensitivity simulations suggest the dominant role played by alongshore wind in the eastern SCS (near Shanwei) and southeast of Hainan Island. We also examine the influence of the Leizhou Peninsula by changing the coastline in simulation experiments. Based on our results, we can draw the following conclusions: 1) The CTWs stimulated by the northern typhoon are stronger than the southern CTW. 2) In the two cases, the directions of the current structures of the QZ cross-transect are reversed. The strongest flow cores are both located in the middle-upper area of the strait and the results of our empirical orthogonal function analysis show that the vertical structure is highly barotropic. 3) The simulated CTWs divide into two branches in the QZ Strait for the northern typhoon, and an island trapped wave (ITW) around Hainan Island for the southern typhoon. 4) The Leizhou Peninsula plays a significant role in the distribution of the kinetic energy flux between the two CTW branches. In the presence of the Leizhou Peninsula, the QZ branch has only 39.7 percent of the total energy, whereas that ratio increases to 72.2 percent in its absence.

A novel electrochemiluminescence (ECL) immunosensor has been designed for determination of tumor marker carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) by utilizing multifunctionalized Flower-like Au@BSA nanoparticles as biosensing interface. In this work, Au@BSA nanoparticles with large surface area, good electroconductivity and excellent biocompatibility were not only employed as an electrochemiluminescence interface but also as ideal carriers to immobilize numerous luminol molecules and CEA capture antibodies (Anti-CEA) acted as signal probe and molecule recognition probe, respectively. In addition, AuNPs were electrodeposited onto the glassy carbon electrode (GCE) surface to construct an outstanding base for this immunosensor. The fast constructed sensing platform could specifically capture antigen CEA, hindering the electron transfer of the ECL reaction between luminol and H 2 O 2 owing to the barrier of the attached immunoprotein layer and thereby resulted in the decrease of ECL intensity. Under the optimal conditions, ECL intensity of the immunosensor decreased linearly with the logarithm of CEA concentration ranging from 0.001 to 200 ng/mL with a low detection limit of 0.0003 ng/mL (S/N = 3). The as-prepared sensing technique exhibited favorable performance and could be applied to detect CEA in real serum samples with satisfactory results, indicating that the proposed strategy provides an alternative scheme for other clinically important biomarkers assay.

Background A comparative analysis of the immunogenicity and safety of different poliovirus immunization schedules in Chinese infants is imperative to guide the administration of efficient strategies for the eradication of poliomyelitis. Methods A post hoc analysis was conducted with the data from two poliovirus vaccine clinical trials involving a combined total of 2,400 infants aged 60-90 days. Trivalent oral poliovirus vaccine (tOPV), bivalent oral poliovirus vaccine (bOPV), Sabin strain-based inactivated poliovirus vaccine (sIPV), and conventional inactivated poliovirus vaccine (cIPV) were used in different schedules, the immunogenicity and safety of which were compared 28 days after the last of three doses. Results In a per-protocol set analysis, the tOPV-tOPV-tOPV schedule induced seroconversion in 99.1%, 98.2%, and 96.0% of the inoculated infants for poliovirus type I, II, and III, respectively. The seroconversions for poliovirus types I and III were each almost 100% after immunization with the cIPV-bOPV-bOPV, sIPV-sIPV-bOPV, cIPV-cIPV-bOPV, sIPV-sIPV-tOPV, cIPV-cIPV-tOPV, or sIPV-bOPV-bOPV schedule. However, the schedules that used one IPV dose followed by two (poliovirus type I and III) bOPV doses failed to induce high-level immunity against type II poliovirus. IPV-related schedules were associated with a slightly higher incidence of adverse events (AEs). Conclusions If the capacity of IPV can be increased, two or more doses of IPV should be administered before vaccination with bOPV in a sequential schedule to improve immunity against type II poliovirus.

Hypoxia, which has been well established as a key feature of the tumor microenvironment, significantly influences tumor behavior and treatment response. Therefore, imaging for tumor hypoxia in vivo is warranted. Although some imaging modalities for detecting tumor hypoxia have been developed, such as magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography, and optical imaging, these technologies still have their own specific limitations. As computed tomography (CT) is one of the most useful imaging tools in terms of availability, efficiency, and convenience, the feasibility of using a hypoxia-sensitive nanoprobe (Au@BSA-NHA) for CT imaging of tumor hypoxia is investigated, with emphasis on identifying different levels of hypoxia in two xenografts. The nanoprobe is composed of Au nanoparticles and nitroimidazole moiety which can be electively reduced by nitroreductase under hypoxic condition. In vitro, Au@BSA-NHA attain the higher cellular uptake under hypoxic condition. Attractively, after in vivo administration, Au@BSA-NHA can not only monitor the tumor hypoxic environment with CT enhancement but also detect the hypoxic status by the degree of enhancement in two xenograft tumors with different hypoxic levels. The results demonstrate that Au@BSA-NHA may potentially be used as a sensitive CT imaging agent for detecting tumor hypoxia.

Design Basis Flood Level(DBFL) is one of the important parameters in nuclear power plant siting in coastal area. This paper proposes a new model of Instantaneous Sea Surface Height(ISSH) to calculate DBFL. The model is validated and compared with bivariate extreme distribution model and independent variables model, using observed series from Shidao bay in Shandong province. Results show that the model is more suitable for representing the DBFL. The joint probability model gets greater return period and smaller return level than ISSH model, because it adopts an association parameter derived from the linear correlation coefficient. Independent variables model is the most reliable in safety but wasteful in economy.

Recent years have witnessed the great development of electrochemiluminescence (ECL) as a platform for the analytical processes in many fields, which includes pharmaceutical analysis, immunoassay, DNA analysis as well as clinical analysis. Herein, a novel electrochemiluminescence (ECL) sensor was fabricated for ultrasensitive detection of atropine based on Ru(bpy) 3 2+ /carbon nanospheres/Nafion composite film. The carbon nanospheres (CNPs) in composite film were obtained through a hydrothermal method. Then, electrochemical and ECL behaviors of the proposed sensor were investigated. Under the optimal conditions, the constructed atropine sensor showed a wide linear range from 0.5 to 250 μM with a detection limit of 0.17 μM (at signal-to-noise ratio of 3). Moreover, the results indicated that the CNPs-based ECL sensor exhibited excellent sensitivity and favorable stability, which might be ascribed to the high surface area and the good electrical conductivity of CNPs. Furthermore, the ECL sensor was applied for the determination of atropine in atropine sulfate injection samples and displayed a desirable result. The proposed ECL sensor could be easily obtained and be promising used for drug assay.

Li Y.-Q.; You Z.-J.; Shi H.-Y., and Ren, B., 2020. Construction of in-situ coastal experimental station to continue assessing shoreline protection performance of geotextile sandbags. In: Malvarez, G. and Navas, F. (eds.), Global Coastal Issues of 2020. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 95, pp. 267–271. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.Storm-induced coastal erosion is one of main natural hazards on the coast of China and appears over one-third of the Chinese coastline. How to protect the valuable coastline from extensive erosion is of enormous economic and social values. In this study, a 74 m-long erosive coastline with high dune of about 8 m on the coast of Chudao in China has been ecologically protected with durable geotextile sandbags and then served as an in-situ permanent experimental station to continuously assess the shoreline protection performance of geotextile sandbags. The in-situ station consists of three different test segments (S1, S2, S3) and each of them was designed differently to optimize the stability and construction cost of geotextile sandbags. The sand-filled geotextile bags are designed to have the same dimensions of 1.3 m long, 0.8 m wide, and 0.2 m high and last for about 20∼30 years. Before and after the in-situ station has been built, the essential field data are collected: (1) monthly surveying of 20 permanent beach profiles to evaluate the beach profile changes; (2) monthly collection of numerous sand samples to analyze sediment grain size changes; and (3) monthly monitoring of maximum wave runup levels and sandbags stability. In analyzing the collected filed data, it is found that high wave runup is main driver for the shoreline erosion at this study site and the test segment (S2) together with geogrids is most effective and economic of the three test segments. The test segment (S2) will be redesigned to further assess the effects of sandbag size, revetment height and geogrid meshing on the performance of geotextile sandbags at this in-situ station.

Dong, C.; Zhan, C.; Lin, Z.; Yi, F.; Zhu, J.; Shi, H., and Wang, Q., 2020. Numerical study on the difference in geomorphic dynamics between current and abandoned estuarine coasts of the Yellow River Delta. In: Zheng, C.W.; Wang, Q.; Zhan, C., and Yang, S.B. (eds.), Air-Sea Interaction and Coastal Environments of the Maritime and Polar Silk Roads. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 99, pp. 227–235. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.Waves are the important driving factors that shape the estuary and coastal landscape of the Yellow River Delta (YRD). Changes in wave dynamics can affect the evolution of landforms, causing erosion or accumulation between coastal areas. In this study, the variation in suspended sediment concentration in the Yellow River under different seawater conditions is simulated based on the Delft3D. Quantitative study of the difference in ocean dynamics between the current estuary and abandoned estuary of the Qingshuigou channel in the YRD is conducted based on the difference in suspended sediment concentrations (Di), which revealed the shaping effect of tidal currents and waves in the evolution of the YRD during different periods. The results show that under multiple sediment and inflow conditions during different periods, the Di-value of the abandoned estuary and its nearshore area is generally high and positive, which indicates that the coastal dynamics of the abandoned estuary are dominated by waves. However, the distribution of Di-value in the current estuary is generally negative, indicating that the coastal dynamics of the current estuary are dominated by tidal currents. In the abandoned estuary, waves restarted and resuspended the deposited silt and clay, and they were moved away from the coast by tidal current, thus causing coastal erosion. However, due to the rapid input of a large amount of sediment in the current estuary, the tidal current could not move all of it; deposition occurred in the estuary and along both sides of the coast, extending the estuary into the sea. By comparison, the waves have a strong geomorphological effect on the abandoned estuary but are relatively weak in the current estuary. These findings have important theoretical value for understanding the evolutionary mechanism of dynamic geomorphology in the YRD.

Sui, Y.; Shi, H.; You, Z.; Qiao, S., and Sun, J., 2020. Long-term trend and change point analysis on runoff and sediment flux into the sea from the Yellow River during the period of 1950-2018. In: Zheng, C.W.; Wang, Q.; Zhan, C., and Yang, S.B. (eds.), Air-Sea Interaction and Coastal Environments of the Maritime and Polar Silk Roads. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 99, pp. 203–207. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.Based on the observed runoff and sediment data from Lijin hydrological station during the period of 1950–2018, this paper addressed the long-term change characteristics of runoff and sediment fluxes into the sea from the Yellow River. The Mann-Kendall test was adopt to estimate the long-term trends in the runoff and sediment time series. The Mann-Whitney-Pettitt (MWP) test were used to determine the change points of runoff and sediment time series. It could be concluded that the annual runoff and the sediment fluxes decreased significantly at the rates of –6.17×109 m3/a and –0.213×109 t/a, respectively. The changes during the flood season were more dramatic than in the dry season, especially for the sediment flux. Different significant change points are detected in the runoff and sediment time series. The changing point for the runoff occurred in 1968, 1985, and 2002 and those of sediment flux in 1968, 1985, and 1996, respectively. The negative long-term change trend and the occurrence of change points are highly associated to natural variation and human activities in the Yellow River basin. The occurrence time of some change points accords even with man-made events.

Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) is a widely used deep learning framework and is applied in the field of face recognition achieving outstanding results. Macropixel Comparison Approach is a shallow mathematical approach that recognizes face by comparing original pixel blocks of face images. In this paper, we are inspired by ideas of the currently popular deep neural network framework and introduce two features into the mathematical approach: deep overlap and weighted filter. The aim is to explore if the idea of deep learning could benefit mathematical recognition method, which might extend the scope of face recognition research. Results from our experiments show that the new proposed approach achieves markedly better recognition rates than the original macropixel methods.

Deep Learning has become increasingly popular since Alexnet was proposed. It has been applied to many domains such as pattern recognition, computer vision, machine translation, and natural language processing. While the advantages of deep learning methods are wildly accepted, the limitations of them are not well researched. In this paper, we present our study and analysis of cases where deep learning methods lose their advantages over traditional methods. Our experiments show that, when the neighbouring proximity disappears, the accuracy of deep learning methods is at most as good as, if not worse than, that of advanced traditional shallow methods. As the resources that traditional shallow methods needed are always much less than deep learning methods. We conclude that, in situations where neighbouring elements of input samples do not have proximity, deep learning methods are significantly less powerful than traditional methods. Furthermore, this clearly indicates that deep structure methods cannot fully replace traditional shallow methods.

Purpose To determine the correlation between diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI)-derived parameters and prognostic factors for rectal adenocarcinoma. Materials and Methods This study was approved by the local institute review board, and written informed consent was obtained from each patient. Data from 56 patients (median age, 59.5 years; age range, 31-86 years) with rectal adenocarcinoma between April 2014 and September 2015 were involved in this prospective study. DKI (b = 0, 700, 1400, and 2100 sec/mm2) and conventional diffusion-weighted imaging (b = 0, 1000 sec/mm2) were performed. Kurtosis and diffusivity from DKI and apparent diffusion coefficients (ADCs) from diffusion-weighted imaging were measured by two radiologists. Student t test, receiver operating characteristic curves, and Spearman correlation were used for statistical analysis. Results Kurtosis was significantly higher in high-grade than in low-grade rectal adenocarcinomas on the basis of both the number of poorly differentiated clusters (PDCs) (1.136 ± 0.086 vs 0.988 ± 0.060, P .05). Compared with both diffusivity and ADC, kurtosis showed significantly higher sensitivity (83.3% [20 of 24] vs 70.8% [17 of 24] and 70.8% [17 of 24], respectively) and specificity (96.8% [31 of 32] vs 84.4% [24 of 32] and 81.3% [26 of 32], respectively). Kurtosis showed a better correlation with PDC grades than with WHO grades (r = 0.797 vs r = 0.293, P < .05). Kurtosis was significantly higher in pN1-2 than in pN0 tumors (1.086 ± 0.103 vs 1.009 ± 0.086, P < .05). Conclusion Kurtosis derived from DKI demonstrated a higher correlation with histologic grades compared with diffusivity and ADC. It also showed better performance in differentiating between high- and low-grade rectal adenocarcinomas and between pN1-2 and pN0 tumors. © RSNA, 2016.

The purpose of this study was to optimize photon energy setting to reduce metal artifact of computed tomography (CT) images from implanted metal orthopedic devices in patients with fractures with monoenergetic imaging of dual-energy CT.This study included 47 patients with factures who underwent metal orthopedic device implanting. After dual-energy CT scan, monoenergetic software was used to postprocess with the following six photon energies: 40 kiloelectron-voltage (keV), 70 keV, 100 keV, 130 keV, 160 keV, and 190 keV. Two radiologists evaluated and rated the reformatted images with six different photon energies and average weighted 120 kVp images according to 4-score scale. The Wilcoxon rank-sum test was used to compare image quality scores for total, internal, and external metal orthopedic devices. Interreader agreement for image quality scoring was calculated.Monoenergetic imaging of dual-energy CT improved the quality of CT images in the fracture patients with metal orthopedic devices compared to the average weighted 120 kVp images for the total, external, and internal metal orthopedic devices (all P values.01). Optimal keV setting with the lowest metal artifact was 130 keV for total, internal, and external metal orthopedic devices. Good interreader agreement was found for the evaluation of image quality for total, internal, and external metal orthopedic devices.Monoenergetic imaging of dual-energy CT improves quality of CT images in patients with metal orthopedic devices after fracture. Reformatted images at 130 keV have the optimal quality for total, internal, and external metal orthopedic devices.

A number of emerging Internet applications such as video-conferencing and live multimedia broadcasts from Internet TV stations rely on scheduling algorithms in switches and routers to guarantee performance and an acceptable level of quality of service. Fairness in packet schedulers is an intuitively desirable property with practical value; fair schedulers such as weighted fair queueing are a critical component of quality-of-service mechanisms that seek to guarantee end-to-end delay bounds, and thus provide end-to-end service differentiation. Popular measures of the fairness achieved by packet schedulers are based on bounds, such as the relative fairness bound which captures the maximum possible difference between the normalized services received by any two flows. In this paper, we argue that such measures do not capture the actual fairness achieved at most instants of time, and therefore, do not represent a true measure of the ability of a scheduler to successfully deliver end-to-end quality for real-time applications. In this paper, we borrow from the field of economics and propose a new measure of fairness based on the Gini index. This measure captures the instantaneous fairness of a scheduler and, unlike other measures based on bounds, also captures the fairness of the scheduler in its handling of flows during idle periods. We use this measure on real gateway traffic traces and present a simulation-based evaluation of several well-known timestamp-based and frame-based schedulers. We also present a qualitative analysis of the phenomena underlying the observed results.

The controlled load service defined within the IETF's Integrated Services architecture for quality-of-service (QoS) in the Internet requires source nodes to regulate their traffic while the network, in combination with an admission control strategy, provides a guarantee of performance equivalent to that achieved in a lightly loaded network. Packets sent in violation of the traffic contract are marked so that the network may assign them a lower priority in the use of bandwidth and buffer resources. In this paper, we define the requirements of a scheduler serving packets belonging to the controlled load service and present a novel scheduler that exactly achieves these requirements. In this set of requirements, besides efficiency and throughput, we include an additional important requirement to bound the additional delay of unmarked packets caused due to the transmission of marked packets while dropping as few marked packets as possible. Without such a bound, unmarked packets that are in compliance with the traffic contract are not likely to experience delays consistent with that in a lightly loaded network. For any given desired bound α on this additional delay, we present the CL(α) scheduler which achieves the bound while also achieving a per-packet work complexity of O(1) with respect to the number of flows. We provide an analytical proof of these properties of the CL(α) scheduler, and we also verify this with simulation using real traces of video traffic. The scheduler presented here may be readily adapted for use in scheduling flows with multi-level priorities such as in some real-time video streams, as well as in other emerging service models of the Internet that mark packets to identify drop precedences.

We examined the benefits of different search strategies by testing four computational models. In one model, agents in a group always innovated. The other three models incorporated some mechanisms of imitation. In the second model, each agent imitated the best solution of a random other. In the third model, each agent followed preferential attachment and imitated the best solution of the agent that was asked by many agents. In the fourth model, each agent developed a familiarity with an agent based on how often it asked a certain agent, and imitated this agent. In two simulation studies, following the most popular or the most familiar agent resulted in a good compromise between efficiency and diversity in finding good solutions. People’s desire to follow particular individuals may be a key to their adaptive behavior, allowing them to disseminate ideas efficiently while encouraging the exploration of new ideas.